


Jester Lavorre and the Case of the Head Cold

by DOOMLover21



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28195830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DOOMLover21/pseuds/DOOMLover21
Summary: It's Beau's first date with Yasha, and Jester, her roommate, has fallen ill.  Jester won't allow her to cancel her date, but Beau won't allow Jester to stay home alone.  Will cashing in a favor from Caleb Widogast be the best compromise?
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	Jester Lavorre and the Case of the Head Cold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pitycomestoolate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pitycomestoolate/gifts).



> This is for my secret santa in the Widojest discord server, pitycomestoolate. This is for the prompts, Modern AU and Sickfic/Caleb comforting a sick Jester. I hope you enjoy and hope you don't mind that I combined two of your prompts into one. Merry Christmas!

**Jester Lavorre and the Case of the Head Cold**

Another loud sneeze rang out through the air. It mildly startled the dark-skinned girl with the half-shaven hair. She paused in putting the finishing touches on her already days old makeup and looked at the door.

"Jessie?" she called out. She heard a sniffle followed by a hacking cough.

"Ja?" came the reply from the hall.

"You okay? You sound like you might be a little sick," the girl pointed out concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm just fine, Beau! No need to worry! It's just some sniffles!" Her eyebrows set in determination as she walked out into the hall, makeup brush in hand. Her tiefling roommate was walking towards the living room, her fluffy pink unicorn blanket trailing on the floor as she goes. Beau could see that her roommate's nose was red and clearly runny from all the discharge coming from it.

The athletic human girl heaved a violent sigh and resigned herself to leaving her makeup as messy and slept in as usual. She just hoped that Yasha wouldn't mind all that much. After putting her brush down where she found it, she followed her sickly friend into the living room.

"Jess, you look like hell," she commented as she entered the room. The sick girl hadn't made it very far into the room, and she turned, nearly tripping on her blanket train, to look at her. Her nose was still runny, and she sniffled again. Beau also noticed, now that she could really see her, that the blue-skinned girl was definitively looking paler than normal.

"I'm really okay, Beau…I just need to go and eat a little something and I'll be just fine," she claimed.

"You need a whole hell of a lot more than some fucking food. You need to get some rest and relaxation…You know what, in fact, I'm gonna give Yasha a ring and call off this whole damn thing," Beau argued as she reached for her phone. Jester tangled her arms in her blanket as she tried frantically waving her arms.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! You don't have to do that!" Beau pulled her phone out and began unlocking it, while Jester continued to protest.

"I'm sure she'll understand. And then I can take care of you," she continued distractedly as she began typing out a message on her phone.

"I don't want you to have to cancel your date just because I have, liiiiiiike, just a few sniffles." Beau paused in her typing and looked up.

"Jess, you know I can't do that. I'm concerned about you, ya know?"

"I knoooooooowwwwww, buuuuuuuuuutttttttt you've been, liiiike, planning this dinner with Yasha for, liiiiiiiiiike, months now," she whined. Her roommate sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I know, but your health is important too. And sure, we've been trying to plan this for a while, but she'll understand." Her fingers hovered over her phone as she went to try and continue typing.

"I'll be okay on my own, though." Beau rubbed her undercut with a hand as she heaved another sigh.

"Will you, though?" she questioned.

"Ahhhhhhhh, jaaaaaaaaaa…." Jester sassed.

"Remember the last time you got sick? You were so delirious you nearly drank olive oil thinking it was cough syrup. And I found you passed out on the floor," she pointed out with a stern glare.

"Oh, yeah, and you had to, like, carry me to bed and stuff," Jester added with a giggle that quickly morphed into a cough.

"Yeah, that's it! I'm letting Yasha know we have to reschedule," Beau stated with finality. She started typing and her roommate flailed again.

"Can't you juuuuuuuust, liiiiike, maaaaaybeeee…I don't know…call someone to, liiiiiiiiiike, come over and take care of me instead? Then you could totally go out on your daaaaaaateeeee with Yasha," she whined. She didn't want Beau to miss this chance to go out with the girl that seemed to have a crush on her and who Beau seemed to really like back. Beau stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment.

"Weeeelllll, Widogast does owe me one…" she trailed off slowly.

"Yay! Cayleb!" Jester did a little dance that nearly tangled her in her blanket again. The dark-skinned girl finished her rapid typing and pocketed her phone again.

"Let's at least get you to sit down on the couch or something 'til he comes." She saw that Jester was tangled again and she shook her head. That girl was going to be the death of her one of these days. Untangling her with a huff, she moved to put an arm around the tiefling to assist her.

"Okay." She sniffled and wound up to sneeze again, and Beau jerked her hand away. However, the sneeze never came, to the tomboy's relief. Beau helped her friend onto the couch and was just starting to cover the sick tiefling girl with her blanket when a knock came on the door. The olive-skinned girl turned to gape at the door.

"Jesus, Caleb, could you be any more obviously infatuated?" she muttered under her breath. Opening the door, she found the skinny redhead with a hand raised to knock again. His face, normally perpetually set in a deep frown, was contorted into a wrinkle of worry.

"Gods, Caleb, did you fucking fly here?" she snarked.

"Ja. You said it was urgent," he deadpanned. Her eyes blinked at him for several moments before he awkwardly continued.

"Was that not the..uh..right thing to..uh..do in this situation?" the German man hesitated. A pink tinge colored his cheeks.

"You're unbelievable…" she sighed.

"Thank you," he replied dryly. She opened her mouth to correct him but closed it once she saw him give her a knowingly playful wink.

"Just get in here," she ground out as she violently pulled him inside. He let out a short cry as he stumbled into the lavish apartment. From her position on the couch, Jester sniffled before letting out another sneeze.

"Hey, Cayleb, you're here **already**?!" the tiefling exclaimed as she turned to see him stumble in.

"Ja…uhh…ja…Beauregard told me you were sick, so I rushed right over," he replied, brushing dust off his long coat. The blush never left his cheeks.

"Did you **fly** over?" she asked in amazement.

"Ja. I thought it would be best as I don't have the means to teleport anywhere close to here just yet," he explained.

"Well, that makes sense," Jester answered.

"Well, I'm gonna get going then," Beau called out as she grabbed her purse.

"Okay! Have fun on your **daaaaaaaaateeeeeeee** …" the tiefling teased. She glared at her only to receive a mischievous smile in return. She spun around to the taller male and poked him violently in the chest. He winced in pain and shrunk in on himself as she gave him a stern look.

"As for you, I'd better not hear that you hurt Jester in any way or gods help you. I'll fucking kill you, find Caduceus to resurrect you, and then kill your skinny ass again!" she threatened. He threw his arms up in surrender.

"I will do nothing of zee kind, Beauregard! Jester is in good hands. Don't you worry about a thing." She continued studying him as if looking for a hint of a lie.

"Yeah, don't worry, Beau! Cayleb will take reaaaaaallllly good care of me. Won't you, Cayleb?" Jester asked with a flirtatious wiggling of her eyebrows. His blush deepened as he swallowed and simply nodded. Beau's eyebrows narrowed briefly before she finally freed the captive wizard from her threatening finger.

"I won't be home 'til late." She hesitated.

"Uh…maybe…" she corrected with a hint of a shy blush that she would surely beat anyone who claimed it was there. Her roommate didn't even try to contain her joyous giggles. She left then, not truly satisfied that she was leaving her best friend in good hands but knowing how hard the red-headed man was crushing on Jester would leave her at least cared for was enough for the martial artist, for now at least. With her gone, the two would've been left in an awkward silence had the sick tiefling not spoken up.

"I'm hungry, Cayleb. Can you, like, make me something to eat or something?" Her voice shook him out of his shock and momentary fear of their mutual friend.

"Wat would you like to eat?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know. Something good?" she said unhelpfully. He slowly nodded as he combed his near-perfect memory for any kinds of foods that might help an ill person.

"Okay. I shall return." He started heading towards the kitchen nearby.

"Oh, and hey, Cayleb?!" He stopped to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you bring Frumpkin with you?" she asked. He smiled and snapped his fingers. As he did, a brilliant flash of amber light and smoke appeared, and out of it trotted out a regal orange tabby. The cat meowed once before climbing up his master's offered hand until he was able to sit proudly on Caleb's shoulder. Jester clapped at the cat's appearance and acrobatic performance as if it wasn't something she saw an uncountable number of times before.

Caleb and his tabby quickly receded into the nearby kitchen where she could hear him opening and closing a number of cabinets. The refrigerator door opened and shut a few times as well. Then she could hear the sound of pots and pans banging before she got too bored to try and sightlessly decipher what exactly her German friend was attempting to make him.

She sighed. She really wished that she had at least thought to bring one of her books to read or even her sketchbook to keep herself entertained. Then again, she hadn't actually figured on having to wait for someone else to help feed her. Jester instead tried and failed to locate the remote control for the large-screened TV. She pouted. Waiting was going to suck.

She couldn't tell how long it would be until her human friend finished making her food. But she could say that it certainly felt like he had been in there for an ungodly amount of time already, even though he would've said it had only been three minutes and twenty seconds. She was about to whine and complain and shout at the German in her kitchen when she started sneezing again. Once, twice, three times. She took a breath, coughed before swallowing another sneeze that only resulted in more hacking.

Another sneeze tore through her. It was probably her twentieth one that day if she had to guess, but she had never really been that great with keeping track of numbers. Her companion, on the other hand, could keep track of just about everything. She would just have to ask him how many that last sneeze was, but knowing how terribly she'd been feeling, she doubted she'd even remember to. She had felt pretty good in the early morning before her roommate left, but now she was feeling downright ill and on her way to miserable.

"You okay in zere?" he called out in his thick German accent.

"Ja! Are you done with the food yet?" she asked with a sniffle. Her nose had constantly been in a warring state of being runny or being stuffed up for days, but she had been fine, really, she had been. She had only just now started feeling truly ill. She reached out for another tissue to blow her nose, but when she fit her hand into the box, her fingers didn't connect with anything soft.

"It'll be another minute, Jester!" he called out again. She could hear the sound of some pots and pans clanging as well as some curses in a language she recognized as the harsh tones of German.

"You okay in there, Cayleb?!" she shouted, probably a little too loudly.

"Ja! Frumpkin got into zee pots and pans…Go! Shoo! Go on, Frumpkin. Go and join Jester on zee couch," he shouted back. She giggled, which soon turned into another coughing fit. She was about to call out again asking for some more tissues or something when a striped ball of orange fluff indignantly stalked out of the nearby kitchen with his tail in the air.

"Frumpy! Oh, come here Frumpy, and let me love you!" she cried out as her hands continually grasped at the air. After giving an indignant meow, the orange tabby hopped up onto the couch and immediately claimed the little blue tiefling's lap as his own. A delighted smile lit up her face, and the soft rumbling purrs almost made her forget about her stuffy nose. She always did enjoy the handsome fluffy cat and his equally handsome master. Said master came walking into the lavish living room then, struggling to carry a heavy-laden tray.

The long-haired ginger groaned from the effort of carrying the tray, and a wave of pride washed over her as he barely managed to walk all the way over from the kitchen and place the tray down on the coffee table. She could see a plate full of sliced bread slathered in butter, a steaming hot mug of some kind of sweet-smelling tea, as well as a bowl of what looked to be chicken noodle soup. A cup of juice, some napkins, and a few bottles full of pills were also visible on the tray. The skinny man heaved a sigh of relief as he collapsed into the chair beside her.

Jester suppressed a giggle with her hands, and a small paw angrily swatted at her. She looked down to see the tabby glaring at her and couldn't contain her laughter any longer. Her exhausted companion resting beside her cracked a smile and stared at her lovingly.

"Okay, okay, okay! I'll go back to petting you, okay?" she asked. The cat continued glaring and pawed at her again. As soon as her tail dislodged itself from the bundle of blankets she'd wrapped herself in and began running itself up and down the cat's body, he finally settled down, with his purring resuming shortly after.

"Frumpkin is soooooo adorable, Cayleb!" she gushed. He was still smiling stupidly at her, but a blush had now joined his smile. She tried and failed to hide the fact that she could see the smile and the blush. She would've keep smiling at him and the adorable cat in her lap, but another violent sneeze tore through her. The poor cat in her lap hissed at her before leaping to the floor, and his master shot upright with an overly concerned look on his face.

"You okay?" he asked. She grimaced. Her hands and face were covered in mucus; she had no tissues; and just felt gross, and sticky, and sickly. The perceptive redhead saw the gross mess her illness had made of her and instantly clued out what was wrong.

"Did you want me to help you clean yourself up?" he offered. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she nodded. Here she was being taken care of by one of the two young men she was crushing hard on, and she had to end up covered in her own snot. This was rapidly becoming a horrible day.

"Okay. I'll be right back," he answered as he began rising from the chair. He disappeared down the hall and returned a few minutes later with a wet washrag. She could smell the sweet scent of her favorite soap soaking the cloth. He really could be quite thoughtful when he wanted to be. And that was another reason why she couldn't stand to look this gross and sickly in front of him.

With his deft fingers, he made quick work of cleaning the mucus off her face and hands. Her heart soared as he lingered on her face and very gently wiped away the few embarrassed tears that had fallen from her eyes from a calloused finger. His eyes briefly met hers, and she could see the love and tenderness pouring from them.

"You're alright. Zere's no reason to cry. I…uh… **we're** here for you," he comforted as he finished. He nodded over to the still hissing tabby. A shy smile crept up her face.

"Thanks, Cayleb," she breathed. He smiled back and nodded.

"It's no problem, Jester. Now, here, you should really eat something." He put the washcloth away and took the soup in his hands, dipping the spoon in. She shifted excitedly in her seat.

"Ooooooo…Cayleb's gonna feed me!" she exclaimed. His face instantly reddened. She opened her mouth and eagerly awaited him inserting the soup laden spoon into her open maw. A smile slowly crept up his face as he slid the spoon into her mouth.

He wasn't sure why he bothered offering to feed her when she had never once claimed to be incapacitated, but judging by the smile on her face, she seemed to be enjoying the act, which was good enough for him. Anything that made Jester happy was good enough for him, though. Even if he didn't want to admit it as such.

It was a well-known fact that he would do anything for his tiefling friend. It was why he was in her home, taking care of her right this very moment when he could very easily be at home reading or studying for his history test. Not that he really needed to study. He already knew he was going to ace the test. He also just really enjoyed reading in general no matter what the subject, and studying did involve some form of reading. Well, at least, his version of studying did, even if it mostly devolved into just reading after about an hour or so.

"I'm sorry that you're stuck here looking after me, Cayleb. I must be, liiiiike, the worst company right now, and I'm all sick and gross and stuff," Jester sniffled whilst Caleb was busily reloading the spoon with some more soup. He looked up from his task with a raised eyebrow.

"Who says I'm stuck here?" he asked. He held the soup filled spoon in front of her, and she took another bite.

She swallowed before continuing, "Well, you probably have, liiiiike, so many **other** things that you'd rather be doing than sitting here feeding me soup." Caleb opened his mouth to protest, but she threw her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Not that I don't, liiike, appreciate you coming over and feeding me and taking care of me and stuff, 'cause I totally do, and I'd hate for you to think that I…" she ranted. A hearty chuckle interrupted her.

"Jester…I was the one who agreed to do this to help you and Beauregard. No one forced me to do this, and I wouldn't have it any other way," Caleb started. Her arms slowly lowered at the same time a smile grew on her face. She couldn't help but be enamored by how sweet and silly her friend could be.

"I wouldn't have agreed to come here if I had any problems with it…Besides, I didn't really have anything to do today," he finished.

"Really?!" she squeaked out. Her smile grew warmer and brighter.

"Ja," he whispered with a nod. She wriggled her arms out of the blanket and looped them around his skinny neck. He let out a cry as she eagerly pulled him close. The spoon he'd been holding clinked on the hardwood floor, and Frumpkin snuck over to stealthily lick at the remnants.

Jester held him close but not too close; she didn't want to hurt him, after all. She relaxed into his warm body, and drank in his musky, campfire scent. The redheaded man was very stiff at first, but after a time, he relaxed into her arms and sighed into her hair. She could stay like this all day, and if he were being honest with himself, so could he.

"Thank you, Cayleb. Thanks for being such a good friend," she muttered into his chest.

"It's not a problem, really, Jester," he answered. She couldn't believe that she was this lucky to be taken care of by one of the two boys she had crushes on.

"Jester?"

"Ja, Cayleb?" she asked as she pulled away to look at him.

"Not zat I don't appreciate zee gesture, Jester, but you are starting to hurt me," he grunted.

"Oh?! Sorry, Cayleb," she apologized as she released him.

"Sorry, Cayleb…sorry, sorry…I shouldn't've hugged you so hard. I know you're liiiiiike, reeeeeaaaaalllllllly weak and skinny and stuff…" she rambled.

"It's ok…I'm ok…I'm ok, Jester," he reassured her. A fit of coughing took her then, followed by a series of sniffles.

"Jester, are you okay?" he asked. She nodded, but he could tell from the miserable look on her face that she was lying. He stood up and offered her a hand.

"Let's get you to bed proper," he suggested.

"But I'm not eeeeeeveeeeennnn tired," she whined.

"Zat may be true, but you are still sick. And zee rest will do you good," he argued. She didn't protest further, instead opting to allow him to help her get to her feet. The blankets fell away, but she didn't really care anymore as the allure of her nice warm bed called to her. He led her to her bedroom, surprising her with his knowledge of her apartment's layout. She could count the number of times he had been to her and Beau's apartment on one hand, and yet here he was, leading her into her room with the ease of someone who lived there full-time. His memory and ability to recall information with ease always amazed and awed her.

"Did you need help getting into bed?" he asked her as a deep blush formed on his cheeks.

"Oooooooo….Cayleb might have to get me into beeeeeeeeed," she teased. Her eyebrows did a suggestive little dance, and her companion only started turning redder and redder. He swallowed down his discomfort.

"D-d-d-did you n-n-need help though?" he asked again. She thought for a moment, even though she knew what her answer would be. She nodded and gave him what she hoped was a sad puppy dog-like smile that would put her own puppy's sad look to shame. Slowly and shakily, he assisted her in getting to bed, though to be honest, she did most of the work. She wriggled beneath the sheets as he tucked her in.

"Goodnight, Jester." He turned to leave, much to her dismay.

"Ummm….Cayleb?" she called out. He turned right around, giving her his full attention.

"Ja?"

"This seems kind of silly, but…umm…can you read to me? My mama used to read to me when I was sick **all** the time," she asked. His face softened into a warm, loving smile.

"Ja, okay…What kind of story vould you like to hear?" Her lips split into a wide smile.

"Do you know any hap-py stories?" she asked, putting extra emphasis on the first half of happy. He smiled at her and nodded.

"I do know of at least one. It was one my mother used to read to me vhen I was a boy."

"Is it a fairy tale?" she asked with obvious interest. He nodded. His eyes closed and when he opened them again, she could see the glistening of tears there. Her smile fell. She had forgotten that Caleb's parents had perished many years before she had met him. She couldn't remember the exact details, but she did remember that it had something to do with a terrible fire.

"I'm sorry, Cayleb…I'm sure thinking of them must be hard…" she whispered. She placed a hand over his and gave him a sad little smile. The corner of his lips rose as he glanced at her hand on his. He nodded and wiped at his eyes.

"You don't have to tell the story if it's gonna make you feel bad, though," she offered. He wriggled his hand free and walked over to the other side of the bed where he sat down beside her. She flipped onto her side to stare into his pretty blue eyes as he started reciting from memory the story of a sick little boy and a magical cat.

She was entranced by the wonderful story and especially by Caleb interlacing his words with magically conjured moving images taken straight from the story itself. Sleep took her before she could hear how the story ended. So sound was her sleep that she never noticed the warm body beside her, the arm lazily draped over her, nor the cat curled up at her feet. And this was how Beauregard and Yasha found the trio when they returned an hour or so later.

Yasha smiled at Jester and Caleb's sleeping forms all cuddled up as Beau shook her head. Neither said a word as they closed the door to allow them to continue sleeping. Neither Jester nor Caleb would ever admit it, but that was the best night of sleep they had gotten in a long time.


End file.
